Kindness
“I feed people. That’s what my life is about,” Eliseo Medina explained as he reviewed the field of participants from last September’s Tamale Festival. “We wanted people to feel comfortable, to have a place at the festival where they can relax and enjoy the other attendees. That meant we needed a lot of fencing!”
It isn’t as if Eliseo and Chelsea Medina had a lot of extra money sitting around to pay for all of that fencing. After all, the purpose of the festival was to raise money for “Toys for Kids.” They put their heart and soul into making sure that they have at least one toy for every child that otherwise wouldn’t have one in their tightknit town.
“We need all the money possible to go toward the presents for the kids,” Eliseo continued. “And the other people and businesses who help sponsor the festival feel the same! So, when I told our fencing sponsor we didn’t have the money for that much fencing, he answered quickly and kindly with ‘Okay. Can you feed us?’”
“That’s what do! I feed people. So, I replied with, you have a deal!” Eliseo said with his rye-little-smile of sun-bright-wattage. “I don’t ever want anyone to go hungry, whether it is one person or three-hundred people. If someone comes into my restaurant, needs a meal, and has no money, I feed them. I simply ask that they help me by doing a little work around here as payment.”
Eliseo fed more than three hundred workers of the fencing company that day of the festival. He felt it to be a good exchange for everyone involved, as well as for the kids who would receive the toys they bought, wrapped and delivered last Christmas. It was just one part of what made the Tamale Festival a huge success.
The main ingredient to Eliseo and Chelsea’s Toys of Kids Tamale Festival and business success is more than great food. It’s kindness.
One could be tempted to think that such kindness is a fable, not part of today’s world. Yet, if I had any doubts, they were quickly erased as I gave my parting fist-bum to Eliseo and turned to the door to leave. That’s where I snapped a quick photo of the thumb-tacked sign, fastened just to the side of the door.
“Kindness. Pay it forward. Grab any paid meal ticket. No questions asked. Even if you cannot feed 100 people, you can feed just one and change a day or a person’s life forever.”
I looked over my left shoulder and smiled once again, at Eliseo, as I walked through the door. I had enjoyed the delicious meal he had made and served to me. But, his kindness had filled my soul to the brim.
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I’m Lynn Butterfield, Real Estate & Lifestyle Expert and Television Host for American Dream TV in Northwest Arkansas. I’ve helped hundreds of Buyers and Sellers, as a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker, to discover where and how they want to live and work; to achieve what I call Realesation™. That’s why I bring you American Dream TV, Both Sides of the Fence, About the Dish, Monday’s Warm Cocoa and Home by Design Magazine to stir your heart and mind. Contact me so I can join you along your own unique path of discovery.
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